During June nine-liter spirits case sales grew 13.1% in Control States over same period sales last year, National Council of State Liquor Administrators reports.
States that reported monthly growth rates for June exceeding their 12-month trends are Alabama (22.4%), Iowa (23.0%), Idaho (16.4%), Maine (17.9%), Michigan (10.3%), Mississippi (54.9%), Montana (23.4%), North Carolina (16.7%), New Hampshire (6.1%), Ohio (15.3%), Oregon (8.9%), Pennsylvania (-4.6%), Utah (17.0%), Virginia (9.6%), Vermont (10.8%), West Virginia (30.3%), and Wyoming (26.1%).
The growth rate for Montgomery County Maryland(-2.3%) fell short of its 12-month trend.
Control state rolling-twelve-month-volume growth, 5.1%, was up compared to May’s reported 4.0%. Spirits volumes grew 6.2% year-to-date compared to 3.3% a year ago.
During the past five years, December’s spirits sales volume in the control states has exceeded 5 million nine-liter cases. June’s reported nine-liter case spirits volume–5,054,718–is the first non-December month during which more than 5 million nine-liter cases have been reported.
Control state spirits shelf dollars were up 19.6% during June while trending at 8.1% during the past 12 months. Alabama (30.8%), Iowa (24.4%), Idaho (22.8%), Maine (19.4%), Michigan (23.3%), Mississippi (71.0%), Montana (25.3%), North Carolina (23.2%), Ohio (25.4%), Oregon (14.4%), Pennsylvania (0.6%), Utah (18.8%), Virginia (14.8%), Vermont (11.1%), West Virginia (32.5%), and Wyoming (26.8%) reported growth rates exceeding their 12-month trends.
Montgomery County Maryland (-1.5%) and New Hampshire (5%) grew shelf dollars at rates below their twelve-month trends. Shelf dollars in the control states are up 10% year-to-date compared to 6.1% last year.
Price/Mix for June is 6.5%, improving upon May’s reported 5.9%.
Price/Mix has been tracked by NABCA since January 2002, and July’s 6.5% is the largest Price/Mix value published, ever. The previous highest value, 5.9%, was recorded during May 2020.
During March, April, May, and June the control states’ on- and off-premise markets behaved capriciously reflecting the impact of various actions taken to restrain Covid-19. During the 12-month period ending February 2020, the off-premise monthly share averaged 82%. During March, the off-premise share jumped to 90%, during April to 99%, and during May retreated to 96%. During June it moderated, somewhat, to 90%. Trends suggest the control state off-premise share for July will be elevated above historical levels.
Fastest Growing Categories
Cocktails, with 2% share of the nine-liter case control states spirits market, was June’s fastest growing category with 61.9% reported and a 12-month trend of 26.2%.
Tequila, with 7% share, grew during June at 31.6% and 13.0% during the past twelve months. Vodka, with 34% share, grew during the same periods at 6.4% and 3.4%, respectively. Brandy/Cognac(23.7% during June, 6.3% twelve-month trend), Canadian Whiskey (13.3%, 4.4%), Cocktails (61.9%, 26.2%), Cordials (13.6%, 1.2%), Domestic Whiskey (15.3%, 9.3%), Gin (6.1%, 1.0%), Irish Whiskey (6%, 4.6%), Rum (8.2%, 0.7%), Scotch (4.7%, 0.9%), Tequila (31.6%, 13.0%), and Vodka (6.4%, 3.4%) all grew at rates above their twelve-month trends.
Wine
June’s nine-liter wine case sales growth rate was 5.7%. Pennsylvania (reporting -2% nine-liter-case growth for wines), New Hampshire (11.3%), Utah (9.7%), Mississippi (42.9%), Montgomery County Maryland (3.6%), and Wyoming (16.0%) are the control states that are the sole wholesalers of wines and spirits within their geographical boundaries. Rolling-twelve-month wine volume growth in these six control states is 0.8%, up from May’s reported -0.1%.